In situ, you are called SuluYou are also called Sug,a contraction of the old word Sulug,which means "currents of the sea",the sea now known to the world as Sulu Sea.From your own tongue it comes,not from others' mouths.

While you were also called Suluk or Solok,your name will always take us backto what is called the “tranquilflowing current of the sea”,which has the characteristics of“travelling in the right path”.And you are peaceful.

The Lannang called you Sulu,a maritime polity recorded in Ming Shilu.Around 1375, an Arab from Mecca,Sayed Ali, called you Suluk.He heard from the natives the word Sulug.Ibn Majid in 1462 wrote it as Sulukbut didn’t claim the name comes from him.

Your brethren from Banjarmasinwere calling you Banjar Kulan,possibly from Kulaan, which means “close-knit”in their native tongue.You were a “Banjar Close-knit” then.Every now and then your name changes into different kinds according to people’s ex situ understanding.You’ve been called Karasikan, Kola and Kaling.

When the Spanish arrivedon your archipelago,they named you Felicia,which means “happy things or happy times”.Does this meanyou were once a happy placebut not anymore now? And why not?

Poetry, for many, is probably not as important as other things to deal with in life. It doesn’t make one rich. Which is true, if one thinks of richness only in terms of money. But for me, a rich person is one who is able to touch other people’s lives positively, one who is able to make himself/herself useful to society.

I actually know of some people who still think of poetry (and art and literature in general) as “stupid” endeavours. I feel sad for them.

They probably do not know that poetry plays a major role in shaping our humanity. Without poetry, we’d be reduced to mere creatures without souls.

Poetry can cure illness, political chaos, and social stigma, even personal depression. Poetry gives us an avenue to express our actions, characters, the chronology of events, times and history, experiences, settings, and our motives in our lives. Most of all, it allows us to touch other people's lives.

Poetry as we all know is also called poesy from which our Malay word “puisi” originates. Poetry is not just an art. It's beyond art.

Poetry allows us to access different things that happen in our lives. Its power reinforces our desire to change, our desire to be the catalyst of change. To me, it is intellectual “insanity” that drives us to create changes to ourselves and others.

We are here today because we want to share how poetry has touched our lives. There are many of us. So we have many stories to listen to.

Don’t hesitate. We don’t really need to be poets per se in order to write poetry. What makes one a poet is just what poetry makes him one. Poetry is within us, it is us, and it is all around us. Eventually, poetry makes us even richer than others once we make it a channel and outlet towards something good.

Poetry can be shouting for some, can be voicing hatred, can be making other things fight. But it is also making hate melt and evaporate like smoke going up and disappearing through air.

Also remember, we write not to compete with others. Poetry is beyond that--far, far beyond egos that often afflict us human beings. And being a poet is not simply our choice. It has been fixed by the Supreme Being because we all have roles and responsibilities in this society. (Please, please and please let’s not forget to read about society. If not by reading books, by looking and observing ourselves inside and out--who are we to others, who others are to us. In the process, let’s question ourselves if we are good enough to look down upon others.)

Now. Get one ringgit bill, and then create something out of it. What do you see and feel? Find your own voices from others. Hear the voices of their hearts and your hearts. Speak the truth even it is falsified. We don't need to be brave to speak our hearts out; we only need a brain to say it through our keyboards and pens.

Poetry is also a critic to ourselves, even if we are the ones speaking and writing.

​Writing poetry is not fixed, but the causes and purposes are. It’s not necessary for a poem to be beautiful per se; ugliness can also be its beauty. It also doesn’t need to be academic, because academics can also diminish the thrash of poetry. Academics and the thrash of poetry compliment each other. Perhaps, there can never be a study that comes out without listening to this trash of poetry. It’s us that give meaning and life to poetry. An extraordinary poem is just an ordinary one if it doesn’t capture the agony and happiness of readers. And what makes it extraordinary is its ordinariness.

Poetry is a synoptic or a tiny novel. It’s also a laconic and subtle expression that pierces through our psyche, our souls, minds and spirit. Writing poetry is telling a story in a shorter manner. You have all key elements similar to writing stories: action, character, chronology, experience, setting, and motive. Writing poetry is reporting, like the “One Husband and Five Wives “ method or the “NEWS” method. And it is complemented with five senses--sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

As I sailed through the rough seas of poetry or poesy writing, I learned to name my sails as ACCESM.In Malay I call it TIWAKPETEMO, a portmanteau of Tindakan, Watak, Kronologi, Pengalaman, Tetapan and Motif. That is why poetry writing is a significant part of our study. Poetry comes with love, romance and humanity. It signifies the joy of being us today, living our lives.

What is Layag Sug? How come you're not answering?Why are you asking?For me to knowWhy, isn’t it to bully me?No. I'm just plainly asking.Why is it so hard for you to answer?I don’t know why the question arises now.I suddenly realized I don't know the meaning of it.Aha, for you what is it?What is Layag Sug?Is it a signature on every statement you make? Or a line you share with someone?It's a signature on every statement It is also a line I share to make Sulu familiar with people todaySo what is Layag Sug?What do you think?I don't know, a Sulu boat?What do you think?You can share what it is so we could exploreI will give you my meaningAfter you give your interpretation of itYou're not answering, are you?Just say so if you're notI don't have the entire night waitingLayag Sug is about my lifeAbout my longing for independence for my beloved homeland SuluLiterally, it means Sulu Sail!That’s Layag Sug seen through my lens of thoughtAnd my experience in life!

This poem was drawn from a conversation with Sulu Gypsy over a year ago.12:44AM, 9 March 2013, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. Let Us All Save Peace. Layag Sug!

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LAYAG SUG

I have not seen this sea, which you speak of so fondly every once in a while.

but I'd notice the slowed-down breathing, the long pausewhen you tell stories of old people that died, of brave men that once sailed with their boatsto cross vast continentsand trade, and then sail again for home where they’d find wives and children waiting for their return.

You are still out there sailing tonight, and I am here hoping you'd reach home soon.I know where that home is.But you have to fight to get there.I could wait for centuriesand be still until you're home finally. Don't fret. Sail, love, wherever that sea with its raging current takes you.

And when you reach shore one day,You'll find me there standing,waiting for you.

(This piece was made by Samantha when I challenged her to write something about Layag Sug a few weeks ago.I am posting with her permission.)